


Accord

by CorsetJinx



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Family Loss, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Reconciliation, Rivalry, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 23:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16417673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorsetJinx/pseuds/CorsetJinx
Summary: In-between saving humanity and protecting their Master the Servants of Chaldea have moments of quiet. Not many, but precious all the same.Arjuna, Karna, and the history between them are considerably less peaceful.





	Accord

"Ah." Karna hums low in his throat, pausing at the threshold. He says nothing else, merely observes the way Arjuna subtly tightens his grip on the cup in his palms. Karna's red cloak billows around him, blocking out the hall and whatever else might be on the other side of the still-open door. A similar mug is cradled in Karna's hands, contents gently steaming.

Arjuna swallows what he immediately wants to say and folds one leg over the other, leaving enough room for Karna to take a seat opposite him. If he should desire to, of course.

Karna glances at the unoccupied seat, the huge window it is nestled beside, and then at Arjuna once more.

"I did not know you would be here." Karna says quietly, voice barely filling the room. What he does not say is _I can leave_. Perhaps because he knows, or suspects, that Arjuna might see it as a challenge.

Arjuna forces his throat to work, swallowing a mouthful of tea. Any sweetness he'd tasted before is gone - replaced with a faint bitterness on his palate.

"We are both here now." Arjuna lets the words hang in the eerie silence of Chaldea. Then, whether in kindness or a needling sense of propriety, he says, "You are blocking the door."

Karna steps in, his blackened feet silent on Chaldea's floor, and delicately folds himself into the narrow seat opposite Arjuna. His eyes fix on the view outside, on endless white snow, and he takes a sip of his drink. When Arjuna inhales again he catches a whiff of it. Hot cocoa - not at all what he might have expected Karna to drink.

The revelation is cut short when Arjuna finds Karna's eyes settled on him instead, their piercing quality undiminished. Under that stare Arjuna can't help but shift, the back of his neck prickling and his fingers longing for Gandiva.

"You could not sleep?" He makes himself ask, holding his cup with more care than is strictly necessary.

Karna blinks, slowly, and then lowers those terrible eyes of his towards the contents of his mug. At first he says nothing and Arjuna must remind himself that it is not his place to demand an answer. Chaldea is not Indraprastha - and they are both Servants to the same Master.

"At times it is easier to avoid doing the unnecessary." Karna finally replies, tone softer than Arjuna thought it could be. "Being what we are - it is not as though we truly require sleep. Only a luxury. Or a curse." Karna adds, as though in afterthought.

Arjuna very nearly asks _What curse could it be for you?_ before he catches himself. He draws in a calming breath, releases it through his nose. His tea helps, a little.

"You are not wrong." Arjuna surprises himself by saying, though he cannot quite bring himself to look Karna in the eye as he speaks. "Only try not to make yourself a burden for our Master. She depends on us, after all."

In hindsight, the words are perhaps a little too harsh. As much as Arjuna might desire it he can't take them back.

Karna only studies him. The look on his face is something close to thoughtful - or as near to it as Arjuna has ever personally seen. Not for the first time it serves as a reminder of how _little_ Arjuna actually knows of his elder half-brother. As a person. As anyone and anything other than his enemy.

As ever, the reminder is unwelcome.

"I never thanked you." Karna abruptly shatters the silence, dragging Arjuna's attention back to the present. The statement feels glaringly out of place and it prickles under Arjuna's skin. Makes him want to allow his tongue the sharpness that his temper demands.

"For what?" He manages instead, carefully neutral. From his recent memories Arjuna cannot think of anything Karna might wish to thank him for. They've avoided each other up to now, coexisting without truly interacting. Until their shared Master requires their assistance, of course.

Karna's stare is just as piercing as Arjuna remembers it. Worse, his half-brother does not blink.

"For taking Vrishaketu into your care, after my death." Karna says simply. Arjuna freezes at the mention of his nephew's name, fingers tightening around his mug reflexively. Mercifully, Karna does not seem to notice. Rather, Karna focuses instead on his own drink as though it might be able to provide the words he seeks.

"I am aware of what ill wishes and curses linger between us," Karna picks each word slowly, testing it. "Of how we are rivals still. I was not there for him when he needed me, after Kurukshetra. You did not have to take care of him."

Then, softly, "But you did. I am in your debt. And..." Karna hesitated, something passing across his face that Arjuna thought might be true regret. "I am sorry for my part in Abhimanyu's death."

"Do not speak his name." Arjuna hissed. Karna looked up, expression unreadable and Arjuna grit his teeth so that the things he wished to say could find no purchase on his tongue. Dimly, he became aware of a warm wetness on his hands. Loosening his grip on his cup Arjuna assessed the damage, noting the slow leak of tea caused by cracks in the ceramic.

Setting the cup aside so that it would not drip onto the rest of his clothes Arjuna stripped off his soiled glove, folding it so that whatever else leaked from the cup wouldn't stain the seat beside him. The glove could be washed, he told himself. It would be poor manners to let his drink spill over something that couldn't be easily replaced.

Once he'd mastered himself Arjuna relaxed his jaw, willing his voice to be soft.

"I wronged you and your sons as well. Vrishasena..." Arjuna swallowed back the roil of emotions that name brought. "I was cruel to him. For that, I am sorry."

Karna said nothing. Perhaps, on some level, he sensed that Arjuna was struggling to make his own words take form.

"At this time I cannot forgive what you did to Abhimanyu." Arjuna looked up, meeting Karna's eye deliberately. "Do not speak his name in my presence," he warned as his ungloved hand slowly formed a fist. "For I cannot promise that my loyalty to our Master will be enough to stay my hand."

"Of course." Karna's thumb slowly traced the rim of his cup.

Satisfied, Arjuna let out the breath he'd been holding. It left him in a soft _whoosh_ , taking most of the heaviness in his chest with it. Most.

"As for Vrishaketu..." Arjuna trailed off, lowering his gaze to his knees. His mouth tightened but when he forced himself to look at Karna again his eyes were softer. "I could not leave him alone. He deserved better. Even if we were not the family he desired. But _I give you my word_ that I did my best to care for him well."

"I know." Karna assured softly, one corner of his mouth gently quirking. "Thank you."


End file.
